The panel may also interact with top security and defence officials posted in the are. The panel has been looking into various aspects of the India-China military standoff at Doklam and has been briefed several times on the issue

New Delhi: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor which also includes Rahul Gandhi, will visit border areas in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh next month to take stock of the situation following the Doklam crisis with China, sources said.

The panel has been looking into various aspects of the India-China military standoff at Doklam and has been briefed several times on the issue by the current Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale.

Another source said that the idea was to get a firsthand experience of the situation on the India-China border in the two states and to see, or if possible visit, areas where incursions have happened, another source said.

The panel, which may also use a chopper to get an aerial view, could also interact with top security and defence officials deployed there, sources said.

Indian and Chinese troops were locked in a 73-day standoff in Doklam after the India objected to the construction of a road by China.

Bhutan and China also have a dispute over Doklam.

Earlier, foreign ministry officials had informed the 31-member parliamentary panel that Bhutan was with India on the issue.